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Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry, IUPAC Recommendations 2005 is the 2005 version of '' Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry'' (which is informally called the Red Book). It is a collection of rules for naming inorganic compounds, as recommended by the
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...
(IUPAC).


Summary

The 2005 edition replaces their previous recommendations ''Nomenclature The Red Book of Inorganic Chemistry, IUPAC Recommendations 1990 (Red Book I)'', and "where appropriate" (sic) ''Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry II, IUPAC Recommendations 2000 (Red Book II)''. The recommendations take up over 300 pages''Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry IUPAC Recommendations'' 2005 ed. N. G. Connelly et al. RSC Publishing https://iupac.org/what-we-do/books/redbook/ and the full text can be downloaded from IUPAC. Corrections have been issued. Apart from a reorganisation of the content, there is a new section on organometallics and a formal element list to be used in place of
electronegativity Electronegativity, symbolized as , is the tendency for an atom of a given chemical element to attract shared electrons (or electron density) when forming a chemical bond. An atom's electronegativity is affected by both its atomic number and the ...
lists in sequencing elements in formulae and names. The concept of a preferred IUPAC name (PIN), a part of the revised blue book for organic compound naming, has not yet been adopted for inorganic compounds. There are however guidelines as to which naming method should be adopted.


Naming methods

The recommendations describe a number of different ways in which compounds can be named. These are: *compositional naming (e.g. sodium chloride) *substitutive naming based on parent hydrides (GeCl2Me2 dichlorodimethylgermane) *additive naming ( nFO3fluoridotrioxidomanganese) Additionally there are recommendations for the following: *naming of cluster compounds *allowed names for inorganic acids and derivatives *naming of solid phases e.g. non-stoichiometric phases For a simple compound such as AlCl3 the different naming conventions yield the following: *compositional: aluminium trichloride (
stoichiometrically Stoichiometry refers to the relationship between the quantities of reactants and products before, during, and following chemical reactions. Stoichiometry is founded on the law of conservation of mass where the total mass of the reactants equals ...
) or dialuminium hexachloride (
dimer Dimer may refer to: * Dimer (chemistry), a chemical structure formed from two similar sub-units ** Protein dimer, a protein quaternary structure ** d-dimer * Dimer model, an item in statistical mechanics, based on ''domino tiling'' * Julius Dimer ( ...
) *substitutional: trichloralumane *additive: trichloridoaluminium; hexachloridodialuminium (dimer without structural information); di-μ-chlorido-tetrachlorido-1κ2''Cl'',2κ2''Cl''-dialuminium (dimer with structural information)


Sequencing elements—the "electronegativity" list

Throughout the recommendations the use of the electronegativity of elements for sequencing has been replaced by a formal list which is loosely based on electronegativity. The recommendations still use the terms electropositive and electronegative to refer to an element's relative position in this list. A simple rule of thumb ignoring lanthanides and actinides is: *for two elements in different groups—then the element in the higher numbered group has higher "electronegativity" *for two elements within the same group the element with the lower the atomic number has the higher "electronegativity" *Hydrogen is fitted in to be less electronegative than any chalcogen and more electronegative than any pnictogen. Hence the formulae of water and ammonia can be written H2O and NH3 respectively. The full list, from highest to lowest "electronegativity" (with the addition of elements 112 through 118, that had not yet been named in 2005, to their respective groups): * Group 17 in atomic number sequence i.e. F–Ts ''followed by'' * Group 16 in atomic number sequence i.e. O–Lv ''followed by'' * H,
hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-to ...
, ''followed by'' * Group 15 in atomic number sequence i.e. N–Mc ''followed by'' * Group 14 in atomic number sequence i.e. C–Fl ''followed by'' *
Group 13 The Group 13 network ( pl, Trzynastka, Yiddish: ''דאָס דרײַצענטל'') was a Jewish Nazi collaborationist organization in the Warsaw Ghetto during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. The rise and fall of the Group ...
in atomic number sequence i.e. B–Nh ''followed by'' * Group 12 in atomic number sequence i.e. Zn–Cn ''followed by'' * Group 11 in atomic number sequence i.e. Cu–Rg ''followed by'' *
Group 10 Group 10, numbered by current IUPAC style, is the group of chemical elements in the periodic table that consists of nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and darmstadtium (Ds). All are d-block transition metals. All known isotopes of d ...
in atomic number sequence i.e. Ni–Ds ''followed by'' * Group 9 in atomic number sequence i.e. Co–Mt ''followed by'' *
Group 8 Group 8 may refer to: * Group 8 element, a series of elements in the Periodic Table * Group 8 Rugby League, a rugby league competition * Group 8 (Sweden), a feminist movement in Sweden * Group VIII, former nomenclature for the noble gas The n ...
in atomic number sequence i.e. Fe–Hs ''followed by'' * Group 7 in atomic number sequence i.e. Mn–Bh ''followed by'' *
Group 6 Group 6 may refer to: *Group 6 element, chemical element classification *Group 6 (racing) Group 6 was the official designation applied by the FIA to two motor racing classifications, the Prototype-Sports Car category from 1966 to 1971 and the Two ...
in atomic number sequence i.e. Cr–Sg ''followed by'' * Group 5 in atomic number sequence i.e. V–Db ''followed by'' * Group 4 in atomic number sequence i.e. Ti–Rf ''followed by'' * Group 3 in atomic number sequence i.e. Sc–Y ''followed by'' * the
lanthanoid The lanthanide () or lanthanoid () series of chemical elements comprises the 15 metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57–71, from lanthanum through lutetium. These elements, along with the chemically similar elements scandium and ytt ...
s in atomic number sequence i.e. La–Lu ''followed by'' * the
actinoid The actinide () or actinoid () series encompasses the 15 metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers from 89 to 103, actinium through lawrencium. The actinide series derives its name from the first element in the series, actinium. The inform ...
s in atomic number sequence i.e. Ac–Lr ''followed by'' *
Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 * Group 2 (racing) The Group 2 racing class referred ...
in atomic number sequence i.e. Be–Ra ''followed by'' * Group 1 (excluding H) in atomic number sequence i.e. Li–Fr ''followed by'' * Group 18 in atomic number sequence i.e. He–Og


Determining the nomenclature to use

Note "treat separately" means to use the decision table on each component


Element names


Sample of indeterminate structure

An indeterminate sample simply takes the element name. For example a sample of carbon (which could be diamond, graphite etc or a mixture) would be named carbon.


Specific allotrope


Molecular

*O2 dioxygen (acceptable name oxygen) *O3 trioxygen (acceptable name ozone) *P4 tetraphosphorus (acceptable name white phosphorus) *S6 hexasulfur (acceptable name ε-sulfur) *S8 cyclo-octasulfur (acceptable names for the polymorphic forms are α-sulfur, β-sulfur, γ-sulfur)


Crystalline form

This is specified by the element symbol followed by the
Pearson symbol The Pearson symbol, or Pearson notation, is used in crystallography as a means of describing a crystal structure, and was originated by W. B. Pearson. The symbol is made up of two letters followed by a number. For example: * Diamond structure ...
for the crystal form. (Note that the recommendations specifically italicize the second character.) *Cn carbon(c''F''8) (acceptable name diamond) *Snn tin(t''I''4) (acceptable name β- or white tin) *Mnn manganese(c''I''58) (acceptable name α-manganese)


Amorphous recognised allotropes

Examples include Pn,. red phosphorus ; Asn, amorphous arsenic.


Compounds

Compositional names impart little structural information and are recommended for use when structural information is not available or does not need to be conveyed. Stoichiometric names are the simplest and reflect either the empirical formula or the molecular formula. The ordering of the elements follows the formal electronegativity list for binary compounds and electronegativity list to group the elements into two classes which are then alphabetically sequenced. The proportions are specified by di-, tri-, etc. (See
IUPAC numerical multiplier The numerical multiplier (or multiplying affix) in IUPAC nomenclature indicates how many particular atoms or functional groups are attached at a particular point in a molecule. The affixes are derived from both Latin and Greek. Compound affixes ...
.) Where there are known to be complex cations or anions these are named in their own right and then these names used as part of the compound name.


Binary compounds

In binary compounds the more electropositive element is placed first in the formula. The formal list is used. The name of the most electronegative element is modified to end in -ide and the more electropositive elements name is left unchanged. Taking the binary compound of sodium and chlorine: chlorine is found first in the list so therefore comes last in the name. Other examples are * PCl5 phosphorus pentachloride * Ca2P3 dicalcium triphosphide * NiSn nickel stannide * Cr23C6 tricosachromium hexacarbide


Ternary compounds and beyond

The following illustrate the principles. The 1:1:1:1 quaternary compound between bromine, chlorine, iodine and phosphorus: * phosphorus bromide chloride iodide (phosphorus is the most electropositive, the others are all designated as electronegative and are sequenced alphabetically) The ternary 2:1:5 compound of antimony, copper and potassium can be named in two ways depending on which are designated as electronegative. *CuK5Sb2 copper pentapotassium diantimonide, (both copper and potassium are designated as electropositive and are sequenced alphabetically) *K5CuSb2 pentapotassium diantimonide cupride (only potassium is designated as electropositive and the two electronegative elements are sequenced alphabetically) (Note the red book shows this example incorrectly)


Naming of ions and radicals


Cations

Monatomic cations are named by taking the element name and following it with the charge in brackets e.g * sodium(1+) * chromium(3+) Sometimes an abbreviated form of the element name has to be taken, e.g. germide for germanium as germanide refers to . Polyatomic cations of the same element are named as the element name preceded by di-, tri-, etc., e.g.: * dimercury(2+) Polyatomic cations made up of different elements are named either substitutively or additively, e.g.: * phosphanium * tetrafluorostibanium (substitutive) or tetrafluoridoantimony(1+) * Note that ammonium and oxonium are acceptable names for and respectively. (Hydronium is not an acceptable name for )


Anions

Monatomic anions are named as the element modified with an -ide ending. The charge follows in brackets, (optional for 1) e.g.: * Cl chloride(1) or chloride * S2 sulfide(2) Some elements take their Latin name as the root e.g *silver, Ag, argentide *copper, Cu, cupride *iron, Fe, ferride *tin, Sn, stannide Polyatomic anions of the same element are named as the element name preceded by di-, tri-, etc., e.g.: * O22 dioxide(2) (or peroxide as an acceptable name) * C22 dicarbide(2) (or acetylide as an acceptable name) * S22 disulfide(2) or sometimes as an alternative derived from a substitutive name e.g. * S22 disulfanediide Polyatomic anions made up of different elements are named either substitutively or additively, the name endings are -ide and -ate respectively e.g. : * GeH3 germanide (substitutive), or trihydridogermanate(1) (additive) *TeH3 tellanuide substitutive where -uide specifies anion composed of additional hydride attached to parent hydride * F6sup> hexafluoro-λ5-phosphanuide (substitutive), or hexafluoridophosphate(1) (additive) *SO32 trioxidosulfate(2) (additive), or sulfite (acceptable non-systematic name) A full list of the alternative acceptable non-systematic names for cations and anions is in the recommendations. Many anions have names derived from inorganic acids and these are dealt with later.


Radicals

The presence of unpaired electrons can be indicated by a "·". For example: *He·+ helium(·+) *N2(2·)2+ dinitrogen(2·2+)


Naming of hydrates and similar lattice compounds

The use of the term hydrate is still acceptable e.g. Na2SO4·10H2O, sodium sulfate decahydrate. The recommended method would be to name it sodium sulfate—water(1/10). Similarly other examples of lattice compounds are: *CaCl2·8NH3, calcium chloride— ammonia (1/8) * 2Na2CO3·3H2O2, sodium carbonate—hydrogen peroxide (2/3) *AlCl3·4EtOH, aluminium chloride—ethanol (1/4)


Specifying proportions using charge or oxidation state

As an alternative to di-, tri- prefixes either charge or oxidation state can be used. Charge is recommended as oxidation state may be ambiguous and open to debate.


Substitutive nomenclature

This naming method generally follows established IUPAC organic nomenclature. Hydrides of the main group elements (groups 13–17) are given ''-ane'' base names, e.g. borane, BH3. Acceptable alternative names for some of the parent hydrides are water rather than oxidane and ammonia rather than azane. In these cases the base name is intended to be used for substituted derivatives. This section of the recommendations covers the naming of compounds containing rings and chains.


Base hydrides


Hydrides with non-standard bonding—lambda convention

Where a compound has non standard bonding as compared to the parent hydride for example PCl5 the lambda convention is used. For example: *PCl5 pentachloro-λ5-phosphane *SF6 hexafluoro-λ6-sulfane


Polynuclear hydrides

A prefix di-, tri- etc. is added to the parent hydride name. Examples are: *HOOH, dioxidane (hydrogen peroxide is an acceptable name) *H2PPH2, diphosphane *H3SiSiH2SiH2SiH3, tetrasilane


Rings and chains

The recommendations describe three ways of assigning "parent" names to homonuclear monocyclic hydrides (i.e single rings consisting of one element): * the
Hantzsch–Widman nomenclature In organic chemistry, Hantzsch–Widman nomenclature, also called the extended Hantzsch–Widman system (named for Arthur Rudolf Hantzsch and ), is a type of systematic chemical nomenclature used for naming heterocyclic parent hydrides having no ...
(the method preferred for rings of size 3–10) * "skeletal replacement nomenclature"—specifying the replacement of carbon atoms in the corresponding carbon compound with atoms of another element (e.g. silicon becomes sila, germanium, germa) and a multiplicative prefix tri, tetra, penta etc)( the method preferred for rings greater than 10) * by adding the prefix ''cyclo'' to the name of the corresponding unbranched, unsubstituted chain


Boron hydrides

The stoichiometric name is followed by the number of hydrogen atoms in brackets. For example B2H6, diborane(6). More structural information can be conveyed by adding the "structural descriptor" ''closo''-, ''nido''-, ''arachno''-, ''hypho''-, ''klado''- prefixes.
There is a fully systematic method of numbering the atoms in the boron hydride clusters, and a method of describing the position of bridging hydrogen atoms using the μ symbol.


Main group organometallic compounds

Use of substitutive nomenclature is recommended for group 13–16 main group organometallic compounds. Examples are: *AlH2Me named methylalumane *BiI2Ph named diiodo(phenyl)bismuthane For organometallic compounds of groups 1–2 can use additive (indicating a molecular aggregate) or compositional naming. Examples are: * eEtHnamed ethylhydridoberyllium or ethanidohydridoberyllium * g(η5-C5H5)2named bis(η5-cyclopentadienyl)magnesium, or bis(η5-cyclopentadienido)magnesium * Na(CHCH2) sodium ethenide (compositional name) However the recommendation notes that future nomenclature projects will be addressing these compounds.


Additive nomenclature

This naming has been developed principally for coordination compounds although it can be more widely applied. Examples are: *Si(OH)4 tetrahydroxidosilicon (additive), or silanetetrol (substitutive) (note silicic acid is an acceptable name—orthosilicic has been dropped). * oCl(NH3)5l2 pentaamminechloridocobalt(2+) chloride


Recommended procedure for naming mononuclear compounds

The recommendations include a flow chart which can be summarised very briefly: *identify the central atom, *identify and name the ligands, *specify coordination mode of ligands i.e. using kappa and/or eta conventions *sequence the ligands *specify coordination geometry i.e polyhedral symbol, configuration index (using CIP rules and absolute configuration for optically active compounds.


Ligand names


Anionic ligands

If the anion name ends in -ide then as a ligand its name is changed to end in -o. For example the chloride anion, Cl becomes chlorido. This is a difference from organic compound naming and substitutive naming where chlorine is treated as neutral and it becomes chloro, as in PCl3, which can be named as either substitutively or additively as trichlorophosphane or trichloridophosphorus respectively. Similarly if the anion names end in -ite, -ate then the ligand names are -ito, -ato.


Neutral ligands

Neutral ligands do not change name with the exception of the following: * Water, "aqua" * Ammonia, "ammine" * Carbon monoxide bonded via carbon, "carbonyl" * Nitrogen monoxide bonded via nitrogen, "nitrosyl"


Examples of ligand names


Sequence and position of ligands and central atoms

Ligands are ordered alphabetically by name and precede the central atom name. The number of ligands coordinating is indicated by the prefixes di-, tri-, tetra- penta- etc. for simple ligands or bis-, tris-, tetrakis-, etc. for complex ligands. For example: * oCl(NH3)5l2 pentaamminechloridocobalt(3+) chloride where ammine (NH3)precedes chloride. The central atom come after the ligands. Where there is more than one central atom it is preceded by di- tri-, tetra- etc. * Os3(CO)12, dodecacarbonyltriosmium Where there are different central atoms they are sequenced using the electronegativity list. * eCo(CO)9nonacarbonylrheniumcobalt


Bridging ligands—use of μ symbol

Ligands may bridge two or more centres. The prefix μ is used to specify a bridging ligand in both the formula and the name. For example the dimeric form of
aluminium trichloride Aluminium chloride, also known as aluminium trichloride, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It forms hexahydrate with the formula , containing six water molecules of hydration. Both are colourless crystals, but samples are often contam ...
: : Al2Cl4(μ-Cl)2 : di-μ-chlorido-tetrachlorido-1κ2''Cl'',2κ2''Cl''-dialuminium This example illustrates the ordering of bridging and non bridging ligands of the same type. In the formula the bridging ligands follow the non bridging whereas in the name the bridging ligands precede the non bridging. Note the use of the kappa convention to specify that there are two terminal chlorides on each aluminium.


Bridging index

Where there are more than two centres that are bridged a bridging index is added as a subscript. For example in basic beryllium acetate which can be visualised as a tetrahedral arrangement of Be atoms linked by 6 acetate ions forming a cage with a central oxide anion, the formula and name are as follows: : e44-O)(μ-O2CMe)6 :hexakis(μ-acetato-κ''O'':κ''O''′)-μ4-oxido-''tetrahedro''-tetraberyllium The μ4 describes the bridging of the central oxide ion. (Note the use of the kappa convention to describe the bridging of the acetate ion where both oxygen atoms are involved.) In the name where a ligand is involved in different modes of bridging, the multiple bridging is listed in decreasing order of complexity, e.g. μ3 bridging before μ2 bridging.


Kappa, κ, convention

The kappa convention is used to specify which ligand atoms are bonding to the central atom and in polynuclear species which atoms, both bridged and unbridged, link to which central atom. For monodentate ligands there is no ambiguity as to which atom is forming the bond to the central atom. However when a ligand has more than one atom that can link to a central atom the kappa convention is used to specify which atoms in a ligand are forming a bond. The element atomic symbol is italicised and preceded by kappa, κ. These symbols are placed after the portion of the ligand name that represents the ring, chain etc where the ligand is located. For example: *pentaamminenitrito-κ''O''-cobalt(III) specifies that the nitrite ligand is linking via the oxygen atom Where there is more than one bond formed from a ligand by a particular element a numerical superscript gives the count. For example: * aqua ethane-1,2-diyldinitrilo-κ2''N'',''N''’)tris(acetato-κ''O'')acetatoobaltate(1-), the cobalt anion formed with water and pentadentate
edta Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is an aminopolycarboxylic acid with the formula H2N(CH2CO2H)2sub>2. This white, water-soluble solid is widely used to bind to iron (Fe2+/Fe3+) and calcium ions (Ca2+), forming water-soluble complexes ev ...
, which links via two nitrogen atoms and three oxygen atoms. There are two bonds from nitrogen atoms in edta which is specified by -κ2''N'',''N''’. The three bonds from oxygen are specified by tris(acetato-κ''O''), where there is one ligation per acetate. In polynuclear complexes the use of the kappa symbol is extended in two related ways. Firstly to specify which ligating atoms bind to which central atom and secondly to specify for a bridging ligand which central atoms are involved. The central atoms must be identified, i.e. by assigning numbers to them. (This is formally dealt with in the recommendations). To specify which ligating atoms in a ligand link to which central atom, the central atom numbers precede the kappa symbol, and numerical superscript specifies the number of ligations and this is followed by the atomic symbol. Multiple occurrences are separated by commas. Examples: : di-μ-chlorido-tetrachlorido-1κ2Cl,2κ2Cl-dialuminium, (
aluminium trichloride Aluminium chloride, also known as aluminium trichloride, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It forms hexahydrate with the formula , containing six water molecules of hydration. Both are colourless crystals, but samples are often contam ...
). :: tetrachlorido-1κ2Cl,2κ2Cl specifies that there are two chloride ligands on each aluminium atom. :decacarbonyl-1κ3''C'',2κ3''C'',3κ4''C''-di-μ-hydrido-1:2κ2''H'';1:2κ2''H''-''triangulo''-(3 '' Os''—''Os''), ( Decacarbonyldihydridotriosmium). ::decacarbonyl-1κ3''C'',2κ3''C'',3κ4''C'' shows that there are three carbonyl groups on two osmium atoms and four on the third. ::di-μ-hydrido-1:2κ2''H'';1:2κ2''H'' specifies that the two hydride bridge between the osmium atom 1 and osmium atom 2.


Eta, η, convention

The use of η to denote hapticity is systematised. The use of η1 is not recommended. When the specification of the atoms involved is ambiguous the position of the atoms must be specified. This is illustrated by the examples: * Cr(η6-C6H6)2, named as bis(η6-benzene)chromium as all of the (contiguous) atoms in the benzene ligands are involved their position does not have to be specified * 1,2,5,6-η)-cycloocta-1,3,5,7-tetraeneη5-cyclopentadienyl)cobalt in this only two (at positions 1 and 5) of the four double bonds are linked to the central atom.


Coordination geometry

For any coordination number above 2 more than one coordination geometry is possible. For example four coordinate coordination compounds can be tetrahedral, square planar, square pyramidal or see-saw shaped. The
polyhedral symbol The polyhedral symbol is sometimes used in coordination chemistry A coordination complex consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, ...
is used to describe the geometry. A configuration index is determined from the positions of the ligands and together with the
polyhedral symbol The polyhedral symbol is sometimes used in coordination chemistry A coordination complex consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, ...
is placed at the beginning of the name. For example in the complex (''SP''-4-3)-(acetonitrile)dichlorido(pyridine)platinum(II) the (''SP''-4-3) at the beginning of the name describes a square planar geometry, 4 coordinate with a configuration index of 3 indicating the position of the ligands around the central atom. For more detail see
polyhedral symbol The polyhedral symbol is sometimes used in coordination chemistry A coordination complex consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, ...
.


Organometallic groups 3–12

Additive nomenclature is generally recommended for organometallic compounds of groups 3-12 (transition metals and zinc, cadmium and mercury).


Metallocenes

Following on from
ferrocene Ferrocene is an organometallic compound with the formula . The molecule is a complex consisting of two cyclopentadienyl rings bound to a central iron atom. It is an orange solid with a camphor-like odor, that sublimes above room temperature, ...
—the first sandwich compound with a central Fe atom coordinated to two parallel cyclopentadienyl rings—names for compounds with similar structures such as osmocene and vanadocene are in common usage. The recommendation is that the name-ending ''ocene'' should be restricted to compounds where there are discrete molecules of bis(η5-cyclopentadienyl)metal (and ring-substituted analogues), where the cyclopentadienyl rings are essentially parallel, and the metal is in the d-block. The terminology does NOT apply to compounds of the s- or p-block elements such as Ba(C5H5)2 or Sn(C5H5)2. Examples of compounds that meet the criteria are: *
vanadocene Vanadocene, bis(η5-cyclopentadienyl) vanadium, is the organometallic compound with the formula V(C5H5)2, commonly abbreviated Cp2V. It is a violet crystalline, paramagnetic solid. Vanadocene has relatively limited practical use, but it has been ex ...
, 5-C5H5)2* chromocene, r(η5-C5H5)2* cobaltocene, o(η5-C5H5)2*
rhodocene Rhodocene is a chemical compound with the formula . Each molecule contains an atom of rhodium bound between two planar aromatic systems of five carbon atoms known as cyclopentadienyl rings in a sandwich arrangement. It is an organometallic compo ...
, h(η5-C5H5)2* nickelocene, i(η5-C5H5)2* ruthenocene, u(η5-C5H5)2* osmocene, s(η5-C5H5)2* manganocene, n(η5-C5H5)2* rhenocene, e(η5-C5H5)2 Examples of compounds that should not be named as metallocenes are: * C10H10Ti * i(η5-C5H5)2Cl2is properly named dichloridobis(η5-cyclopentadienyl)titanium NOT titanocene dichloride


Polynuclear cluster compounds


Metal-metal bonds

In polynuclear compounds with metal-metal bonds these are shown after the element name as follows: (3 ''Os''—''Os'') in Decacarbonyldihydridotriosmium. A pair of brackets contain a count of the bonds formed (if greater than 1), followed by the italicised element atomic symbols separated by an "em-dash".


Polynuclear cluster geometry

The geometries of polynuclear clusters can range in complexity. A descriptor e.g. tetrahedro or the CEP descriptor e.g. ''Td''-(13)-Δ4-''closo''] can be used. this is determined by the complexity of the cluster. Some examples are shown below of descriptors and CEP equivalents. (The CEP descriptors are named for Casey, Evans and Powell who described the system."A descriptor system and principles for numbering closed boron polyhedra with at least one rotational symmetry axis and one symmetry plane". Casey J.B., Evans W.J., Powell W.H. ''Inorg. Chem.'', 20, 5,(1981), 1333–1341 Examples: decacarbonyldimanganese bis(pentacarbonylmanganese)(''Mn''—''Mn'') dodecacarbonyltetrarhodium tri-μ-carbonyl-1:2κ2''C'';1:3κ2''C'';2:3κ2''C''-nonacarbonyl- 1κ2''C'',2κ2''C'',3κ2''C'',4κ3''C''- 'T''d-(13)-Δ4-''closo''tetrarhodium(6 ''Rh''—''Rh'')
or tri-μ-carbonyl-1:2κ2''C'';1:3κ2''C'';2:3κ2''C''-nonacarbonyl- 1κ2''C'',2κ2''C'',3κ2''C'',4κ3''C''-tetrahedro-tetrarhodium(6 ''Rh''—''Rh'')


Inorganic acids


Hydrogen names

The recommendations include a description of hydrogen names for acids. The following examples illustrate the method: * * * (2−) * Note that the difference from the compositional naming method (hydrogen sulfide) as in hydrogen naming there is NO space between the electropositive and electronegative components. This method gives no structural information regarding the position of the hydrons (hydrogen atoms). If this information is to be conveyed then the additive name should be used (see the list below for examples).


List of acceptable names

The recommendations give a full list of acceptable names for common acids and related anions. A selection from this list is shown below.


Solids

Stoichiometric phases are named compositionally. Non-stoichiometric phases are more difficult. Where possible formulae should be used but where necessary naming such as the following may be used: * (iron deficient) * (carbon excess)


Mineral names

Generally mineral names should not be used to specify chemical composition. However a mineral name can be used to specify the structure type in a formula e.g. * (perovskite type)


Approximate formulae and variable composition

A simple notation may be used where little information on the mechanism for variability is either available or is not required to be conveyed: *~ (circa or approximately) Where there is a continuous range of composition this can be written e.g., for a mixture of and and for a mixture of and . The recommendation is to use the following generalised method e.g. * for * for Note that cation vacancies in could be described by


Point defects (Kröger–Vink) notation

Point defects, site symmetry and site occupancy can all be described using
Kröger–Vink notation Kröger–Vink notation is a set of conventions that are used to describe electric charges and Crystal structure, lattice positions of Crystallographic defect#, point defect species in crystals. It is primarily used for ionic crystals and is particu ...
, note that the IUPAC preference is for vacancies to be specified by ''V'' rather than V (the element vanadium).


Phase nomenclature

To specify the crystal form of a compound or element the
Pearson symbol The Pearson symbol, or Pearson notation, is used in crystallography as a means of describing a crystal structure, and was originated by W. B. Pearson. The symbol is made up of two letters followed by a number. For example: * Diamond structure ...
may be used. The use of Strukturbericht (e.g. A1 etc) or Greek letters is not acceptable. The Pearson symbol may be followed by the space group and the prototype formula. Examples are: * , diamond * ( type)


Polymorphism

It is recommended that polymorphs are identified (e.g. for where the two forms zincblende (cubic) and wurtzite (hexagonal)), as and respectively.


Notes and references

{{Reflist, 2 Chemical nomenclature Inorganic chemistry